Aladdin’s magic carpet: Navigation by in-air static hand gesture in autonomous vehicles

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a novel and exploratory investigation of how users might control future autonomous vehicles with user-defined in-air static hand gestures. In the era of autonomous vehicles, how to support “driving” without steering control may become a key issue affecting user experience. As the navigation interface of future autonomous cars will be wholly dependent on GPS, and passengers will be unable to make manual control adjustments, verbal or gestural communication will become a primary means to assist them in vehicle control. We thus focus on gesture as an innovative solution for this “final 100 meters” problem in automated navigation. A study (N = 24) conducted in a full chassis simulator shows that hand gesture control is feasible for autonomous vehicle navigation. It further reveals that hand gestures are influenced by task types, local regional norms, and participant culture. In particular, the spatial region where gestures occur can affect execution time, gender can impact user preference and demand, and culture differences and priorities can affect adoption, ease of learning, and user comfort, influencing longer-term use.

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to Rebecca Currano, David Miller, Mishel Johns and Larry Cathey for their help with the simulator setup and data analysis.

Notes

1. A preliminary test found that some participants had difficulty distinguishing the text descriptions for a 7 point scale.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Xiaosong Qian

Xiaosong Qian is a PhD design researcher at Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) and a Visiting Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Design Research. His research focuses on user interaction, user interfaces and user-centered design. He has published several papers in international journals and conference proceedings.

Wendy Ju

Wendy Ju is an Associate Professor of Information Science at Cornell Tech. She works on designing interactions with automation, with a focus on human–robot interaction and autonomous vehicle interaction. She holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford, and a MS in Media Arts & Sciences from MIT (2008).

David Michael Sirkin

David Sirkin is Executive Director of Interaction Design Research at Stanford’s Center for Design Research. His research focuses on the design of physical interactions between humans and robots, and autonomous vehicles and their interfaces. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering (Design) from Stanford, and MS degrees in EECS and Management from MIT.